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Preventing Hemangiosarcomas and a Cat Who Chews Metal

The first question comes from Yasmina, who says, “Is there a supplement or food that I can feed to prevent hemangiosarcoma? I lost a 10-year-old dog to this disease recently.”

I’m so sorry for your lose of your dog. Hemangiosarcoma is a really horrible cancer. Unfortunately, there’s not really a food or supplement, or anything that you can do, to prevent this disease. You might consider getting pet insurance so that finances aren’t a factor if your dog does get this horrible disease, so you can offer them the best possible treatment.

The next question comes from Ann Marie, who says, “My cat, Pickles, likes to chew on metal things; iron, silver, aluminum. Can cats need iron supplements? Can they crave it? I’m worried about his teeth.”

This is a great question. It’s possible that this is just behavioral. He likes shiny things or he likes the way they taste. It is a little bit worrying for me because cats can get certain toxicities from metal. For example, pennies and other things that have zinc in it can be really toxic to cats. I would try to discourage him from chewing on these metal objects.

There’s a possibility that there could be some sort of an underlying anemia. Sometimes cats can crave non-food objects. You might contact your veterinarian and have a blood work-up done. If everything comes back normal, you’re probably looking at a behavioral problem.

If you guys have pet health questions for me, feel free to post them at Facebook.com/PetsBestInsurance..www.petsbest.com